Last for use in forming and leveling soles



April 2o ,1926. 1,531,627

J. lc. BOYD LAST F011 USE 1N FORMING AND .LEVELING soLEs Filed May 5, 1924 gym-JM ArroR//EK Patented Apr. 20, 1926.

UNITED STATES JOI-IN C. BOYD, OF ST. LOUIS, MISSOURI.

LAST FOR USE IN FORMING AND LEVELING SOLES.

Application led May 5,

To all whom t may concor/IL.'

Be it known that I, JOHN C. BOYD, a citizen of the United States, residing in the city of St. Louis and State of h/Iissouri, have invented new and useful Improvements in Lasts for Use in Forming and Leveling Soles, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the art of shoe making and has for its generall object, any improvement in that class of machines which are used for forming and leveling the sole of the shoe.

In this class of machine a lower member called a last or foot has the partly finished shoe applied thereto and an upper member containing a male or leveling form, having a shape complemental to that of the last or foot is brought down upon the sole of the shoe under very great pressure. These machines not only shape and level the sole but the tacks and threads used in securing the outer sole to the upper and inner sole are supposed to be embedded thereby into the inner sole so as to make the upper surface of the latter practically smooth and free from projections.- The last or foot on which the partly completed shoe is placed for the purpose-of the above operation, is supposed to have a substantially fiat upper surface. I have found in practice, however, that the last or foot of thismachine will, on its upper side, frequently be higher along a longitudinal central line than at the sides or marginal portion thereof, so that when the male or leveling form is brought down upon the sole, the latter will be depressed at the center more than is necessary, and less pressure than is necessary to force the projecting ends of tacks, and the threads, into the inner sole will be exerted at the marginal portion of the latter.

In my prior Patent, N o. 1,465,338, dated August 2l, 1923, I have shown and described a last adapted to overcomethe above objections, such last being characterized by a flat marginal portion surrounding the last from toe to heel, and a shallow depression extending longitudinally yof the last substantially from end to end thereof. This last operates in an entirely satisfactory 1924. Serial N0. I710,995.

manner and accomplishes every purpose Ifor which it was intended.

In the development of the` art, however, it has been found that the flat marginal portion and the shallow depression are not required at the heel and instep zones of the last, and for certain shoes this construction is even undesirable. It is the purpose of the present invention, therefore, to provide a last which will have all of the advantages of the last of the patent referred to as tothe toe and ball portion of the last, and which will have its instep and heel portion of a shape adapted to meet the requirements of present methods involving theuseof a last.

To this end, the invention resides 'in a last having the'heel and ball portion thereof provided with a shallow depression extending longitudinally of the last from the toe portion to the termination of the ball portion at substantially the center of the last, which depression is surrounded by a fiat marginal v portion which imperceptibly merges into the depressed portion of the last, so that there is no appreciable line or area demarking the conjunction of the surfaces of the flat and depressed portions.

rlhe invention further resides in a last having it-s toe and ball portion constructed as above provided, and having its instep and heel portion convexly curved, so that from the ball of the last to the heel, the longitudinal center of the last will be slightly higher than the marginal portion thereof.

` With a last as thus constructed, the toe and ball portion of the last will operate to cause themaximum of the pressure exerted by the leveling form to be borne by the flat marginalV portion, whereby I secure certainty in the finish of the shoe as regards the embeddingfof the points of tacks, and of the securing threads in the inner sole, and by thus insuring a smooth` interior, greatly add to the comfort of the wearer, While maintaining "uniformity as respects this characteristic' of the shoe. The remainder of the last extending from the ball vto the heel is slightly curved in conformity to the desired shape to be imparted to the interior of the 'shoe at thisportion, and this curvature is uninterrupted, as will be understood,

by the interposition of the flat marginal portion, but the whole interior surface of the bottom of the shoe at this point will be gently curved to form a pleasing shape lwell adapted to the comfort ofthe wearer.

At the toe and ball portion of a modern ladys shoe, the thread surface of the sole is substantially perfectly flat, and in this portion of the last the shallow depression and the confining flat marginal portion are of great advantage in securing the purposes above recited.

In the accompanying drawing- Figure Vl is a view in side elevation illustrating a ladys shoe on a foot or last with `an upper male or leveling form shown in compressingv position theron, the lower portion only of the leveling form being shown, and the mea-ns for operating the same being omitted;

Figure 2 is a section on the line 2 2 of Figure l; and

Figure 3 is a top plan viewof the foot or last, illustrating the flat marginal portion and the central depression extending inward from the marginal portion, at the toe and ball portion of the last, and the rounded or curved shape of the instep and heel portion.

Referring now to the drawing, the numeral 1 indicates a standard, preferably formed integral with which is a last or foot 2 of the desired size and configuration of the style of shoe to be operated upon. As shown by Figure 3, the upper surface of this last at the toe and ballportion is provided with a flat marginal portion 3 extending entirely around this part of the last, and with a central depressed portion 4 which starts at the inner confine of the flat portion 3 and extends to the longitudinal center of the last, the depth of the depression being substantially one-thirty-second of an inch. Owing to the shallowness of the depression, there is no sharp edge caused to exist along the inner margin ofthe flat portion 3, but if desired, this part of the surface of the last may be filed off, or otherwise rounded or smoothed, so as to cause the flat marginal portion to merge into the surface of the depression without any line or area demarking the conjunction of the surfaces. The numeral 5 indicates the male or leveling form, and the numeral 6, the shoe, the sole 7 of which is to be leveled and shaped.

As will more clearly appear from Figure 2 of the drawing, when the leveling form 5 is brought down with great pressure upon the sole 7, the marginal portion of the inner 1 sole 8, corresponding to the flat marginal portion 3, will be forced downward aga-inst this fiat marginal portion,and the projecting ends-of any nails or tacks, and any protruding threads or knots, will be firmly embedded in the said inner sole, so that the marginal portion thereof will be relatively smooth and free from projections of any character.

For the sake of clearness in illustration, the bottom of the depression 4 in Figure 2 is shown as considerably removed from the under side of the inner sole 8. In practice, however, the depression in the surface of the last is so slight that the depression would actually be filled up andthe requisite pressure applied to the central portion of the sole in giving the necessary shape thereto.

The operation of shaping and leveling the sole is well understood of those skilled in the art, and in the practice of my invention, no different operationl is followed from that heretoforepracticed, the only difference being in construction, and consisting in the provision ward surface of the last surrounded by a flat marginal portion, to insure of an adequate pressure being exerted on the corresponding marginal portion of the inner sole; and in further providing the rear, or instep and heel portion of the last, with a rounded or curved surface to impart the desired smooth curvature to this portion of the interior of the inner sole and shoe.

While the invention is not limited to exact dimension or proportions, I find that a 4flat marginal portion of from one-fourth to one-half inch in width and a central depression of a maximum depth of approximately one-thirty-second of an inch, will usually answer all the purposes of the invention, irrespective of the length or width of the last.

I claim:

1. A last for use in leveling and shaping the soles of shoes, having its outer surface or thread provided with a flat marginal portion in the toe and ball portion ofthe last only, and a shallow depression surrounded by said flat portion, the wall of which depression being gradually inclined downwardly in all directions from the inner boundary of said marginal portion, the entire working surface of the tread of said toe and ball portion of the last beino' smooth and devoid of an abrupt edge or Shoulder, and the instep and heel portion of said last providing a convexly curved surface.

2. A last for use in leveling and shaping the soles of shoes, having a flat marginal portion on the outer or tread surface of the toe and ball portion of the last surrounding a depression extending longitudinally of the of a depression in the upper forsaid portion of the last, the upper confines of said depression merging into the inner boundary of said marginal portion at such an angle as to prevent the formation of an abrupt sharp edge, said depression being suiiiciently shallow to permit the entire surface of the toe and ball portion of the tread to be effective in leveling and shaping the sole, and the instep and heel portion of Said last providing a oonvexly Curved surface.

3. A last for use in leveling and Shaping the soles of shoes, lia-ving L treed providing with e shallow depression extending longitudinally of the last over the toe and ball portion thereof only and affording a smooth fiat marginal portion entirely surrounding l0 said depression, the surface of the depression and the surface of said marginal portion merging into each other in a manner to provide t substantially continuous tread surface free from an appreciable line or area cle-marking the conjunction of the surfaces, and the instep and heel portion of said last providing a Convexly curved Surface.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN o. BOYD. 

